Boldness In Asking Equals Blessing

I watched him as he went from person to person in the Food Court asking for spare change "to buy some food." He wasn't having any success and so he came over to where I was standing in line, and in broken English, asked the people serving for something to eat. Husband and wife looked at each other, before the wife took up a plate and prepared a small serving. Before she could hand it to him, he asked, "More, please?"

Those in line chuckled at the man's boldness, but as soon as he spoke, the words from James 4:2b sprung to life in my mind, "Ye have not, because ye ask not." Right before me was someone who had asked not only for what he needed, but confidently asked for the amount that he felt would satisfy his hunger. He needed food, and a small amount was not going to do. As I watched the events unfold, the lady smiled, doubled the portions on the plate, and this time he took it without hesitation, said his thanks, before walking off to find a seat to have his meal.

The thought occurred to me that his request matched the severity of his need. In a spiritual sense, how many Christians fall short in that regard? From the old hymn we recall the words, "Oh what peace we often forfeit / Oh, what needless pain we bear / All because we do not carry / Ev'rything to God in prayer!", a striking indictment on the believer's inability to recognize and appreciate that the severity of our needs will never exhaust the resources of God. The writer to the Hebrews encourages us to come boldly unto the throne of grace (4:16); there we find Him of whom it is written, He "calleth those things which be not as though they were" (Romans 4:17). It really doesn't matter the needs, or the severity of those needs, God is more than able to meet them. I believe this was what Peter had in mind when he wrote, "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you" (1 Peter 5:7). There is no justifiable reason to keep some of our cares (worries, anxieties, doubts, fears, needs) to ourselves; we are to cast them ALL upon Him.

Knowing God's inexhaustible supply, Jesus encouraged His disciples to "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened" (Matthew 7:7,8). No limits, no restrictions; just the assurance that the things that conform to the will of God for our lives are ours through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). With that in mind, let us not be afraid to ask for what we need. We serve a God who specializes in meeting every need, even the ones that seem impossible.

Sweet or Sour: How Are Your Words?

All throughout the Scriptures, we're reminded of the power of words. By themselves they are neither good or bad, but how we use them, and our intent, determine their impact. Jesus taught that from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matt. 12:34; Luke 6:45), and in the Proverbs we read, "The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips" (16:23, KJV). Because the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9), Solomon admonished "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee" (Proverbs 4:23,24). Obviously, God places a lot of emphasis on the words we speak.

This becomes absolutely important in our dealings with others. The careless use of words can hurt, destroy, humiliate, and provoke other feelings of emotional distress (Proverbs 15:1). However, on the flipside, we see its positive potential: "Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones" (Proverbs 16:24). The pleasant words spoken of are not flattery, flowery words expressed with insincerity or selfish motives, but rather words seasoned with grace that seeks to encourage, edify, instruct, comfort, and which has their foundation in the Word of God. The right words, at the right time, spoken in the right way, are sweet to the soul and literally like medicine to the bones. The Psalmist experienced this when he wrote, "This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened [repaired, restored] me" (119:50).

I believe when David said "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee" (Psalm 119:11), he was thinking of relationships at all levels, including those with his fellow men. Earlier he wrote, "How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (v. 103). The hidden word would permeate his entire being, instruct his tongue, and find its expression in ways that would be pleasing to both God and man.

Undoubtedly, many have been wounded by things said of us, and to us. However what about the things we say of, about, and to others? How are your words? What effect do they have on the people you interact with? It really is worth thinking about.

Alpha & Omega...

The first time I heard Israel & New Breed singing "Alpha & Omega" on CD, I was blown away. I listened to that song for days. Tears flowed freely just about every time, and the song took me places in my spirit I'd never been before. Then I got the DVD, and it was the same thing. I couldn't have enough of it, nor could I have enough of the Divine Presence it elevated me to. It is definitely one of my favorite worship songs, and I hope it blesses you as much as it blessed me.



Please note: If you are on a corporate network and see seeing white space instead of the encoded video, your company's internet policy may be preventing you from seeing it.

Facing "The Last Enemy"

She was standing, waiting for the elevator in the Bible College I attend and where she is a professor. Her husband had passed away a couple weeks before, and once I caught up with her, proceeded to offer my condolences. During our brief chat, I commented on her cheerful disposition despite her recent loss. Her eyes brightened, her smile got broader, and bouncing on her toes she said excitedly, with all the conviction she could muster, "I know where he is, I know where he is, he's with Jesus." What a wonderful perspective!

Death. It is not a topic that makes for comfortable conversation, yet its reality has touched the lives of so many of us. From the moment we were conceived, our 'appointment' with death was made, and unless we're privileged to be alive when Jesus returns, it is an 'appointment' - date and time unknown to us - that we must keep. The writer of Hebrews left no doubt about that when he wrote, "It is appointed unto man once to die" (9:27), and Solomon stated the uncomfortable truth, "For the living know that they will die" (Ecclesiastes 9:5a). However, whether when facing the death of loved ones, or awareness of our own mortality, death, for the believer, doesn't have to be a frightening thought. In the natural, it is but a period on our earthly existence, but from God's perspective, it is a comma, a transition, for to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, declared this moment of transition "precious", when he wrote, "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints" (Psalm 116:5). Imagine that. When the final breath leaves the body of the child of God, the LORD deems that a precious moment.

While there is sorrow in death, there is no need for fear. Someone once wrote, "Death is but changing our robes to wait in wedding garments at the Eternal's gate." Before his execution, Paul, in his second and final letter to Timothy, wrote, "I am now ready to be offered" (4:6a). The Psalmist declared, "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness" (17:15). Because of the hope in Christ Jesus, we do not have to face or mourn death like those without hope. Like the college professor, secured in the knowledge of the promises of God, we too can say of our loved ones, and they can say of us, "I know where s/he is, I know where s/he is."

The grave is not a final resting place. It is just a holding ground for our mortal bodies. Being fully persuaded that death will eventually be swallowed up in victory, and that it is just a transition from this life to the next, in its presence the believer should shout the words of 1 Corinthians 15:55, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?", because standing on the other side is The One who triumphed over death, and through Him, all who believe in Him will experience the same (John 3:16). Let us comfort ourselves , and others, with that thought.

God's Word, Our Response (Part II)

The Israelites experienced forty years of wilderness wandering because of unbelief. They allowed themselves to be influenced not by the word of the LORD, but by what they heard from their peers. How many of us make that same mistake today? "Search the land of Canaan, which I [the LORD] give unto the children of Israel" (Numbers 13:2, KJV). The Word was not "which I *will* give", but rather "which I give". That they had the land was already a done deal, and basically all they had to from this point on was to follow the LORD's instructions.

To walk in God's promises and assurances requires us to see things and situations from His perspective. His track record is of such that nothing that He has ordained has failed to come to pass. Six times in Genesis 1 we read, "And God said ... and it was so." From our perspective, it does not always look like things make a lot of sense, and when we look around at what God says is ours, we are often filled with doubt. However, there are times when we receive a Word from the LORD that others do not always understand, but as long as that Word is consistent with what God has revealed of Himself, the child of God can stand with conviction on it. It is interesting to note that when some of the spies saw the land filled with giants, they immediately saw themselves not as the LORD's children doing what He had instructed, but reported "we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight (vv. Numbers 13:32b-33). Their inability to see themselves as the LORD saw them defined who they were, and they presumed others saw them as they saw themselves.

If God says you're strong, then you are. If He declares you an overcomer, you are. If He says you can and that you will, you can and you will. Whatever He says of you, that is what and who you are. The issue is not so much what others say or believe about you, or even what you believe about yourself, or the different challenging situations you find yourself in. The challenge to every believer is this: what and whose report are you going to believe? The Israelites chose to believe the bad report, and by doing so, angered the LORD.

What does the LORD say of Himself? In Isaiah 55:8-11 we read, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it" (ESV).

If He says it, we can believe it. Anything else outside of that is irrelevant.

God's Word, Our Response (Part 1)

There were twelve of them, each representing their respective tribe, and their mission was well defined. As instructed by the LORD, through Moses, they were to "search the land of Canaan, which I [the LORD] give unto the children of Israel" (Numbers 13:2, KJV). They did as instructed, returning after forty days with a report that contained both good and bad news. The land flowed with milk and honey, and yielded much fruit, but it was occupied with giants, and the cities had walls around them (vv.28-29). The narrative tells us, "And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight (vv. 32b-33). They had assessed the situation based on what they had seen, and had forgotten what the LORD had told them. Does that sound familiar? Can you relate?

Among the twelve however, were two who had not forgotten. As the people became restless at the report, "Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we" (vv. 30-31). A reading of Numbers 14 show us that the negative report won the day, so much so that the LORD sentenced them to forty years of wilderness wandering, during which time all the doubters would perish and so forfeit entering the Promised Land. All because of unbelief.

Some important truths from the story: 1) The majority is not always right; 2) The LORD is not pleased when we doubt Him; and 3) What the situation looks like on the outside is no hindrance to the fulfilling of what the LORD has ordained. When a truth has been quickened in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, it is important we understand that whatever God declare *will* come to pass (Isaiah 55:11). Paul reminds us, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31b), so we need not worry about what we see, think, feel, or what others may say. Instead, we can stand firmly on, and walk boldly in, the things that are in keeping with His will, trusting that He will take care of the obstacles Himself, or make ways so we can get through them.

Our God can be trusted. On this occasion, the people doubted and the consequences were severe. As you read the Word and realize what He has promised for your life, how do you respond? Do you believe? Do your actions matchup with your belief?